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SENATOR MCCAIN SEEKS PASSAGE OF INDIAN TRIBES METHAMPHETAMINE ACT

January 4, 2007

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) today introduced the Indian Tribes Methamphetamine Act of 2007. Below are Senator McCain’s remarks as submitted for the record:   

“Mr. President, today I am introducing the Indian Tribes Methamphetamine Reduction Grants Act of 2007.  This bill is identical to S. 4113, a bipartisan measure that was passed by unanimous consent in the Senate on December 8, 2006, the last day of the 109^th Congress.  The legislation would allow Indian tribes to be eligible for funding through the Department of Justice to eradicate the scourge of methamphetamine use, sale and manufacture in Native American communities.  I am pleased to be joined by Senators Dorgan, Baucus, Grassley, Reid, Feinstein, and Feingold in introducing this important legislation.

“Mr. President, the impacts of methamphetamine use on communities across the Nation are well known and cannot be overstated.  Methamphetamine is the leading drug-related law enforcement problem in the country.  Unfortunately, the meth crisis is affecting Indian Country most severely.   Very serious concerns have been raised by the U.S. Department of Justice, states, and other non-tribal law enforcement agencies over the rapidly growing levels of methamphetamine production and trafficking on reservations with large geographic areas or tribes adjacent to the U.S.-Mexico border.  But because of the sovereign status of the tribes, criminals are generally not subject to state jurisdiction in many cases.  As a result, local law enforcement often has no jurisdiction in Indian country, and tribal law enforcement agencies bear the brunt of most law enforcement functions.

“The problem of meth in Indian country, which the National Congress of American Indians identified last year as its top priority, is ubiquitous, and has strained already overburdened law enforcement, health, social welfare, housing, and child protective and placement services on Indian reservations.  Last year a former tribal judge on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and other drugs. The day before, the Navajo Nation police arrested an 81 year old grandmother, her daughter, and her granddaughter, for selling meth. One tribe in Arizona had over 60 babies born with meth in their systems.  In 2005, the National Indian Housing Council expanded its training for dealing with meth in tribal housing: the average cost of decontaminating a single residence that has been used a meth lab is $10,000. 

“During the 109^th Congress, as the Chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, I held hearings on this serious matter.  Committee witnesses testified that the methamphetamine epidemic in Indian country has contributed to a rise in child abuse and neglect cases, among other social ills, and some tribes reported dramatic increases in suicide rates among young people linked to methamphetamine use.  Following our hearings,  I was pleased to work with Senators Dorgan, Session, Bingaman and others in improving upon our legislation to assist Indian Country in fighting this terrible drug crisis.

“To avoid any potential misinterpretation of the intent of this legislation, this bill includes language developed and agreed to during the last Congress that is designed to clarify the intent of the bill.  This clarifying language, provided in section 2(a)(4) of the bill, is intended to make it clear that by authorizing the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance to award grant funds to a state, territory or Indian tribe to “investigate, arrest and prosecute individuals” involved in illegal methamphetamine activities, the legislation does not somehow authorize a grantee state, territory or Indian tribe to pursue law enforcement activities that it otherwise has no jurisdiction to pursue.  And similarly, this provision also clarifies that an award or denial of a grant by the Bureau of Justice Assistance does not somehow allow a state, territory or Indian tribe to pursue law enforcement activities that it otherwise lacks jurisdiction to pursue.  For example, a law enforcement agency in one state, territory or Indian reservation is not somehow enabled by this section, or by an award made pursuant to this section, to prosecute a methamphetamine crime arising in some other jurisdiction unless that agency already has such jurisdiction.

“The legislation further clarifies that authority under the bill to award grants would have no effect beyond simply authorizing, awarding or denying a grant of funds to a state, territory or Indian tribe.  So, for example, if a state, territory or Indian tribe is awarded or denied a grant of funds under this section, that award or denial has no relevance to or effect on the eligibility of the state, territory or Indian tribe to participate in any other program or activity unrelated to the award or denial of grants as permitted under this legislation.  The award or denial of a grant under this subsection, in other words, is relevant only to the award or denial of the grant under this subsection, and nothing else.